2016 in Market Research - The Year in Review
It's almost year-end - time to look back and reflect over the past 12 months: what were the highlights? Any clear patterns emerging? Was 2016 just a continuation of what had gone on in 2015, or were any corners turned, notable changes in spending patterns, MR industry mood even?
Here are my own views on 2016:
Digital transformation is hitting - witness the Gfk takeover in Q4, with private equity company KKR stepping in for at least 18.5% of their shares.
Polarisation - seems that a research project has to be either fast & lower cost or strategic-consultative. Could it be that this will be how Agencies need to structure their offerings in future?
Qual steps up - Esomar Qual in Berlin was heartening. Storytelling was the focus, a whole range of inspiring approaches were showcased - including how Big Data companies are using contemporary qual (multi-country online communities), and how Social Media analysis and Qual work well together. Hybrid approaches abounded.
Predictive Analytics - a complex beast. Witness the Trump and Brexit polling misses. Made me mindful of how simply asking people what they will do in future isn't likely to be powerfully predictively.
Shopper Insights - hot if not sexy. The amount of interest this topic engenders has stuck with me - it's actionable, concrete, and very tightly linked to sales. Good way to answer the ROI question for Market Research, and with Amazon continuing to innovate, likely to remain a hot topic.
Video - seems to have gone mainstream in capturing "meaningful moments". This was big at the Esomar Qual event, capturing participant experiences, replaying them in report-outs. Totally involving stuff.
Fewer Social Media conversations - there seem to be drastically fewer MR people using Twitter - even Linked In Group conversations seem to have less rich threads. Are there less conversations going on? This blog is deliberately shorter btw - my attempt to get to the point faster.
Overall, from my Western European/ Qual perspective, 2016 was an encouraging year.
Yes, there were ongoing challenges: continuing downward pressures on price, the push to deliver results at ever greater speed, purchasing department involvment to name a few.
But still. At each of the 3 qual conferences (QRCA Vienna, AQR Berlin, Esomar Qual) I attended in 2016, there was an upbeat mood - "cautiously optimistic" was the feedback I got from many. IIEX was similar.
Another factor was anecdotal evidence from a few strongly reliable sources on the upturn in the number of roles being created for "Insights-style" jobs across a whole range of Agency types - innovation and brand consultancies, design agencies, integrated shops, client companies with a strong growth agenda.
Are we in demand? Could it be that 2016 was a turning point - and that we actually become a little optimistic? I'll raise my glass to that.
Curious, as ever, as to others' views.